Join us for a Catalyx Coffee with Dan.
Each month our Brand Manager, Esmeralda Voegele-Downing, sits down with one of our fantastic team members to have a catch-up over a cup of coffee in which you can get to know some of the people who make Catalyx tick and what they’re up to…
As fate would have it, Dan Rahemtulla, our Talent Acquisition Manager, and I started at Catalyx on the same day. We’ve worked in parallel for over a year, immersing ourselves in different departments. When I see him at town halls or socials, however, I witness Dan’s success through that framework of day one.
Besides his unfailing ability to be, and put you, at ease in every collaborative setting, what strikes me about Dan’s work is found elsewhere: in the gradual growth of the Catalyx team. I think Dan’s impact is not best measured in reports published or pitches presented, but in the new faces that appear around us, opening up new pathways and possibilities. All the while Dan is there, quietly shaping our future and a bit too humble to draw attention to himself while doing it.
So, get to know Dan while we discuss his eagle eye for recruitment, what makes a person ‘Catalyx’, and which (very unrelaxing) video game helps him unwind.
Happy (recent) birthday! What have you been up to?
Thank you, it’s been a big one. This has been the best and most productive year of my life. I got married, just turned 30, and I have a honeymoon booked. Two weeks in Sri Lanka and the Maldives!
Besides all that [laughs] I’ve also gotten into fitness. I never cared much before, but now I’m going to the gym three, four times a week. For me, it builds discipline. It’s structure and organisation. This is a new chapter in my life and I’ve been able to say, “this is how I want it to feel”.
What a year, congratulations. How has life at Catalyx been – keeping you busy?
Absolutely. When I came to Catalyx, a bespoke highly consultative agency, I’d never heard of Qual or Quant before. It was massively different from my previous role, it’s been mainly learning about how the people of the company like to work. With recruitment in agency life a lot of the people you speak to know the role they want to hire for but not necessarily how the candidate market aligns with their expectations. For me, it’s about having that knowledge and guiding the business to a more successful hiring outcome.
Family time is the most important thing for me. At the end of my day, I go from a massive network of people in front of me right back down to one.
I’ve got a side goal of learning to code, which my manager, Vicki O’Sullivan, is very supportive of, but typically my day-to-day is looking for professionals across the UK, wider Europe and US within Research, Commercial and Operations. It’s a huge industry but it’s about finding the people who are right for Catalyx. There’s our USP we want to have resonate, but we’re also looking out for the type of person who’s excited to jump into evolution and growth. For example, people wanting to be involved in a fast-paced culture where there isn’t a lot of red tape – it’s very different to a big business with a matrix of processes and less fluidity. It’s just the nature of the beast.
What do you think makes a ‘Catalyx person’?
Incredibly bright, hungry, and well-rounded. I think… just easy-going. You’ve got to have a cool head on your shoulders to work in a scale-up. Oh, and different! We’re all totally different and want to be as diverse as we can. We were previously in a culture of using agencies to find these people, but now we’re not. We’ve become much better at hiring our talent our own way!
You’ve been instrumental to that. Do you feel as proud as you definitely should?
I’m super proud on behalf of everyone for that, it’s not just me. It’s people at the top trusting the process and that we have the right personnel to make that happen. Nobody can learn Catalyx in a super short time, it’s been really useful to me to have time to learn the nuances. It’s not even necessarily all skills-based, it’s that other set of factors about the person. You can have a CV that looks good on paper, but it’s very often not always about that.
Finally, how on earth do you recharge from all these people you’re constantly connecting with?
Switching off from work as soon as I get home. Some gaming, at the moment you know it’s Elden Ring! But family time is the most important thing for me. At the end of my day, I go from a massive network of people in front of me right back down to one.
Curious about Catalyx?
We’re ready to unlock your innovation’s success, and our team won’t settle until our work does just that.
Find out more about life at Catalyx including our values, ethos and careers on Our Culture page, or follow us on LinkedIn to make sure you never miss an announcement.
